Amicable Exes / Live-Action TV

• The Affair: After a bitter custody dispute following their separation, Noah and Helen eventually settle into this for the sake of their children.
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: After several other characters complain about their exes, Mack smugly states that all of his exes are great and he still gets along with all of them. He quickly retracts his statement after being reminded that he once had to pretend to like quinoa for a year.
  Mack: [dead serious] That was a dark time...
• Amber Brown (2022): Though there's some friction between them, Sarah and Phil are very friendly with each other after they divorced. Sarah even tells their daughter Amber that she loves Phil, just not in the same way as before.
• Andor: Bix and Cassian are exes and also close friends who trust each other and secretly work together to supply stolen parts on the black market. Cassian also dismisses Maarva's concerns that any of his other exes with whom he'd shared his secret would turn him into Pre-Mor after Pre-Mor puts out a bulletin looking for someone meeting his description and secret background.
• Arrow:
  • John Diggle and Lyla Michaels are still partners after their divorce. Then they get married again.
  • Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance struggled to be this because of their past relationship, Tommy, Sara coming Back from the Dead and Laurel trying to be a vigilante herself. By Season 4, they finally accepted being friends and Laurel fully supports of Oliver's relationship with Felicity.
• On Babylon 5, John Sheridan and ex-wife Elizabeth Lochley not only get along but have an implicit trust in each other that makes them an ideal command team. According to Elizabeth, they both realize that the marriage was a horrible mistake due to their aggressive command personalities. The divorce saved their friendship.
• Leonard and Penny from The Big Bang Theory are like this during their "off again" stages. They occasionally bicker, but it's clear to anyone that they're close friends. This trope is Lampshaded after their first "real" break up when they treat Sheldon as if he were a child over whom they have shared custody, watching him sleep peacefully after a trip to Disneyland together.
• Downplayed overall in Blue Bloods between Erin Reagan and her ex-husband Jack Boyle. They're reasonable but rather curt with each other, and the first time we meet him, Jack wonders why Erin still has her married name "Reagan-Boyle" on her door. She says it's the same reason people who have lost weight keep a "before" picture. Ouch. However, they still trust each other enough that Erin calls Jack to represent her brother Danny after he gets framed.
• Pilot neighbor Howard Borden on The Bob Newhart Show is friendly with his ex-wife, although his insecurity makes him competitive over impressing their son.
• In The Boys (2019), M.M.'s wife Monique was initially bitter about him rekindling his crusade against Supes and was quick to leave him over it, but by Season 3 she's mellowed out and shows that she still cares for him even if it's too dangerous for them to be together, and maintains a healthy friendship with him while allowing him to spend time with his daughter.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Except for a flashback to when their marriage was on the rocks, Buffy's divorced parents seem to get along fine, and afterwards Joyce recalls their relationship with fondness. The two are extremely cordial in Hank's few appearances in the show. It's only really after Joyce's death that his status as a deadbeat is fully implemented.
• Carnival Row: Vignette and Tourmaline were once lovers. However, though Tourmaline would like to rekindle things, she accepts Vignette's rejection of that after discovering her husband is still alive. They are still close friends.
• Castle: Richard Castle gets along with both of his ex-wives. He likes Alexis' mother, but it was just that being married didn't work for either of them. And his second wife continues being his publisher and publicity agent even after their divorce.
• While they still trade plenty of barbs, Frasier Crane and Lilith Sternin of Cheers and Frasier are on amicable enough terms to have Thanksgiving together without killing each other or anyone else, and when Lilith wants another baby and needs a sperm donor, she comes to Frasier first.
  • In one episode of Frasier both Frasier and Lilith are unknowingly set up on a blind date together. They both end up telling each other that they both have a date. They both end up canceling them to spend the evening with each other watching a movie, both unaware that they were set up together. Their friends who set them up were unaware of their past relationship.
  • This relationship was also subjected to a bit of Early-Installment Weirdness when Martin comments that Lilith was worse than Niles's then-wife Maris. It would later become evident that Maris was two inches away from Domestic Abuse, and didn't deserve, much less attain, this trope when she and Niles split up. In early episodes, Lilith's presence was interpreted as being downright demonic (as a play on her name). Also, Frasier and Lilith had just freshly divorced when the show started (on account of her cheating on him after a really subtle relationship decay), while Maris's foibles didn't lead to her and Niles separating until 3 or 4 seasons later; the divorce didn't even come until he discovered she was sleeping with their marriage counselor. After that, she was considered just as screwy as Lilith, if not more so.
    • This could also come from the fact that while Maris obviously has significant psychological problems (anorexia, surgical addiction, severe phobias, and hypochondria are some of the more easily diagnosed) that she can't help, Lilith is intentionally cruel and cold, to the point that she laughed as Maris read her flowery vows during her and Niles's wedding.
  • Even after some point, Niles and Maris begin to fit this trope, when after the divorce and his marriage to Daphne, Maris comes to him for assistance regarding an abusive boyfriend.
  • During his divorce from Maris, Niles ends up sleeping with Lilith after her husband leaves her for another man. The next time they see each other a few seasons later they're perfectly cordial and make polite small talk. Frasier finds this so unnerving he demands they go back to the snarky, combative way they interacted before their one-night stand.
• Sae Hee and Young Joo in the Korean Drama The City Hunter. They broke up because of his job but still see each other frequently as friends.
• Class of '09: Poet dates Daniel and then Hour, whom she even gets engaged to. Both relationships end, though she stays friendly with them after this.
• Common Law features this between Wes and Elizabeth. The two are still clearly close and it's implied quite often that Wes would like nothing better than to go back to the way things were.
• Conversations with Friends: Frances and Bobbi dated in the past, but this evolved into just a close friendship (though they butt heads at times). They even work together reciting the spoken word poerty Frances writes. The pair get back together later.
• El corazón nunca se equivoca: Diego and Temo are still pretty good friends, even though Temo is dating Ari and Diego is still in love with Temo.
• Jules and Bobby on Cougar Town get on extremely well, hang out together all the time. It seems that they both think they work better divorced.
• Criminal Minds:
  • David Rossi gets along with his ex-wives:
    • It's implied his marriage with Carolyn fell apart over the trauma of losing a baby. They still trust each other enough so that when she's diagnosed with ALS, she asks him to assist in her suicide.
    • While his marriage with Hayden fell apart with him choosing the Married to the Job part, they did reconcile and resume their relationship years later after Rossi reunited with his and Hayden's daughter Joy only to end it, deciding that they're Better as Friends.
    • His original marriage with Krystall was brief as they then went on a binge together, and later got married at a drive-thru wedding chapel by an Elvis impersonator before annulling it a day later, but kept in touch years later when Krystall invited him to her daughter's wedding, which led to them rekindling their relationship and eventually remarrying in the penultimate season finale.
  • Hayley and Hotch go through a painful period after their divorce, but after some time has passed, it becomes clear that they still care very much for one another. Unfortunately, before things can get as far as "amicable," Hayley is murdered.
• Jo and Russ on CSI: NY. The main problem was that Russ wanted a stay-at-home wife, while Jo is a dedicated career woman. However, the two episodes he showed up in depicted them as fairly friendly and even still had some UST in one.
• An early season of Degrassi: The Next Generation had Ashley wonder why her parents divorced since they were still very close friends. She finds out that it was because her father realized he was gay and he ended up remarrying.
• Desperate Housewives:
  • After their divorce at the beginning of the seventh season, Bree and Orson Hodge are on better terms with each other.
  • Lynette's mother and her favorite stepfather only divorced when the husband came out as gay and he even agrees to be her caretaker when they're both elderly.
• Deconstructed with Lance and Maggie in Series 1 of Detectorists. They see each other nearly every day despite the fact that they're divorced, and outwardly appear to get along very well. However, in truth Lance hangs around and does boring domestic tasks that Maggie's new husband doesn't want to bother with in the futile hope that she'll come back to him one day, while Maggie is just using Lance for free labour and mainly keeps him around because she learned about his lottery win and hopes she can convince him to give her some of his money.
• Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith in Doctor Who, though the latter is at first upset when she left him to go with the Doctor but they maintain a friendly relationship afterward.
  • The 2006 episode "School Reunion" broached the subject, with Mickey referring to former companion Sarah Jane Smith as the Doctor's ex, and the ending of the Doctor and Sarah Jane's relationship was framed as a form of romance that was forced to end, with the Doctor and Sarah Jane in separate scenes confirming that there was more than just friendship between the two. Despite all of this, the Doctor and Sarah Jane are overjoyed to see each other and are friendly throughout (indeed, their friendship is reignited and continues after this).
• The main character, Martin Tupper, on the TV series Dream On got along very well with his ex-wife, Judith.
• Emergence: Jo and her ex-husband Alex have a very friendly relationship, so much that it makes you wonder why they got divorced.
• On ER, Susan Lewis gets along well with nurse Chuck Martin after both their annulled marriage and their later breakup.
• Eureka has two cases:
  • Carter's Ex actually shows up and establishes that the breakup was because Carter would always rush off to work, and when she realizes how much a part of the town both he and daughter Zoey are, she's even willing to step aside and let Zoey remain, even though the agreement was for her to return with Abby at the end of the school year.
  • Allison and Nathan Stark divorce over the course of the initial season, but still work together and eventually commit to remarry , until Nathan 'dies' while ending a time loop.
• First Kill: Cal is best friends with her ex-girlfriend Tess, although she confides to Juliette that going back to being best friends hasn't worked out too well.
• Friends:
  • The series starts shortly after Ross and his wife Carol divorced after she came out as gay. Nonetheless, they still get on very well and happily co-parent their son Ben; if Carol wasn't a lesbian, they'd probably still be together. This may explain why Carol's current partner Susan doesn't seem to like Ross much. Though her opinion of him jumps up considerably after he shows just how amicable he is by convincing Carol to go ahead with the marriage to Susan despite Carol's parents' disapproval.
  • And of course, Ross and Rachel. They were hostile towards each other for a few episodes after their breakup, at their worst in "The One Without The Ski Trip", but then went back to being friends.
  • Rachel and Joey briefly get together at the start of Season 10. However, they soon realize they aren't actually comfortable being a couple and amicably break up after agreeing that they're Better as Friends.
    Joey: I don't get it. I mean, I was so sure this was what I wanted.
    Rachel: I know. Me too. Well how come Monica and Chandler could do it?
    Joey: ...I guess they weren't as good friends as we are.
• Fringe: Broyles' obsession with a certain case ended his marriage with his wife Diane. That said, the two are still on very good terms, and he appears to be on friendly terms with her new husband as well. After he finally closed and solved the case, Diane was genuinely proud of him for it.
• Game of Thrones: Tyrion with Sansa, asking about her wellbeing in Season 7 when Jon visits Dragonstone. Of course, neither of them had wanted to marry the other in the first place. In season 8, they have a brief conversation where Sansa remarks wistfully that out of all her husbands or fiancés (including violently abusive Joffrey, screaming brat Robyn, and rapist Ramsay), Tyrion was the best.
• Ghostwriter: Lana Barnes and her second husband Carlo Perretti, the father of her daughter Janine, stayed friends after they divorced.
• Gilmore Girls: Subverted with Christopher and Lorelai, who initially appear to have this dynamic before the show ruthlessly deconstructs it. They were childhood friends before having Rory at 16 and Lorelai refused a Shotgun Wedding. At the start of the series, they banter in probably much the same way they did as kids, commiserate over their uptight parents, and Lorelai invites Christopher to see Rory anytime he likes. However, it's soon made clear that Christopher isn't interested in Lorelai's friendship, nor in being much of a father to Rory if Lorelai doesn't reciprocate, and that he has little desire for serious commitment. Lorelai, for her part, has conflicting feelings about Christopher, but ultimately knows they're not compatible and he won't stay. It doesn't stop her from falling for the bait repeatedly, only to be left reeling. Rory is the one to call out his unhealthy dynamic, asking her father to stop calling in season 5 and being less than enthused to find out her parents eloped in season 7. By the time of the 2016 revival, it appears Chris and Lorelai haven't spoken in years, and Rory warns him to stay away from Lorelai's upcoming wedding to Luke.
  • Rory, for her part, has this dynamic with Jess. In the revival, she ends up venting to him about her life struggles while he lends an ear and gives her advice on where to go next—which she takes and finds purpose in her life again.
• On The Golden Girls, Dorothy and Stan's relationship gradually becomes this. After being married for thirty-eight years, they split up not long before the series begins, which Dorothy deeply resents—not just because Stan cheated, but because he refused to tell her face to face, instead having a lawyer tell her over the phone ("a stranger told me that my marriage was over"). At first, she claims that she won't be happy until she's "tasted Stan's blood," but after getting to finally tell him off at their daughter's wedding, she is able to let go of her anger. Once she has, the two vacillate between contempt, sarcasm, friendship, helping each other out with problems, and even the occasional sexual dalliance; one plotline of a later season has Stan propose to Dorothy again, which she willingly accepts (she only chooses to not go through with it—on the day of the wedding itself—because he tries to make her sign a prenup). In the Grand Finale of the series, Stan (who at this point has been married two more times) hijacks Dorothy's limousine as she prepares to wed Blanche's Uncle Lucas to make one final speech to her about how deep down, she'll always be the one woman he truly loves. Dorothy is touched by the sentiment and thanks him.
• This is the entire basis for the show Happily Divorced on TV Land. Fran and Peter still live together, share advice, and are involved in one another's lives. If not for his coming out, they would most likely still be married. This is based on star/creator Fran Drescher's relationship with her ex-husband, with whom she still works.
• On Happy Endings, Dave and Alex try to play out this trope even though they were never actually married (Alex left Dave at the altar). They have many friends in common and value those friendships too much to make those friends choose sides. They do fight sometimes, especially at first, but eventually play this straight, even after they get back together and break up again.
  • Penny was Max's Last Het Romance, though now they're very good friends.
• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: "Pride Comes Before A Brawl" establishes that Hercules and Nemesis used to date, with him even calling her the first love of his life. We never learn why they broke up, but it was clearly amicable, as they hug upon seeing each other again, banter, and even flirt. Though they have a one-night stand in a later episode when she's Brought Down to Normal, they never do get back together, but Hercules still drops everything to help her if she's in trouble.
• High Fidelity: Rob is now best friends with Simon, who used to be her boyfriend (before realizing that he's gay.
• In Hill Street Blues, Captain Frank Furillo's ex-wife Fay shows up at the police station every few episodes, usually asking Frank to help her with something. Even though this sometimes irritates Frank, they still seem quite fond of each other. Part of the equation is that Fay has custody of their son, Frank Jr. Frank's new girlfriend Joyce Davenport is also usually on quite friendly terms with Fay, even though she's a rival for Frank's attention.
• In season 7 of House, House and Cuddy get along nearly as well after they break up as they did before they got together in the first place (i.e. not all that well, but about as well as House gets along with anyone). Until House drives his car into her living room at the end of the season.
• How I Met Your Mother:
  • Ted and Robin break up very amicably with no heartbreak or fighting whatsoever (after realizing that they wanted completely different lives and didn't want to force each other to compromise), and not only remain very close friends throughout the series but it is revealed that they will always remain close friends, as Robin is known as "Aunt Robin" to Ted's future children and apparently interacts with them a great deal. They are even platonic roommates in seasons 4-7, and Ted has promised to be Robin's best man should she ever get married.
    • This is eventually subverted when they realize that they are too amicable with each other. Their later partners express discomfort with their close friendship and Ted especially cannot maintain new romantic relationships. In the back of his minds, he has the faint (false) hope that they will get back together and thus he cannot fully commit to new relationships. By official series end, it's revealed that Ted's been carrying a torch for Robin for years and he's been telling the story in hopes that the kids would support him into asking her for another date after The Mother passed away. Played straighter in the DVD-release alternate ending, which shows Ted and the Mother still happily alive and married 2030, and Future Ted's narration implying that Robin and Barney will eventually rekindle their romance.
    • Even as early as the first "Slapsgiving" episode, several months after the breakup, it was revealed they'd been more or less faking being this and considered no longer being able to remain friends. It turned out they really just needed to acknowledge that things had changed and it wasn't all good before being able to move forward.
  • Ted's parents. Ted's father apprently introduced Ted's mother to two of her later boyfriends, one of which became her second husband.
  • Barney and Robin date for a while in Season 5, but eventually become discontent and break up. Barney laments that dating has ruined their relationship until Robin suggests that they are merely "getting back together as friends".
• iZombie shows that even after calling off the engagement, due to her zombiesm, Liv and Major still share a very close and involving friendship with one another.
• One episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit features a lesbian couple, one of whom was in a straight marriage and had a child with her ex-husband before she came out and left him for her current partner. They appear to be on good enough terms that the ex-husband witnessed her will leaving everything to her partner; and makes sure that their son, who he has custody of, keeps a relationship with her and his half-sister, the lesbian couple's daughter.
• Nate and Maggie of Leverage, so much so that she's the only person he talks to outside team.
• Cal Lightman from Lie to Me gets along very (very, very) well with his ex-wife.
• Lucifer:
  • Not only do Chloe Decker and Dan Espinoza remain friends after they divorce, they seem to get along better than when they were married. They still work together and jointly raise their daughter, Trixie. Although Dan partly blames him for the divorce, he eventually becomes Vitriolic Best Buds with Lucifer, Chloe's current love interest. In fact, Dan actually ships them together.
  • It takes an entire season, but Maze eventually reaches an understanding following her breakup with Amenadiel and the latter's subsequent relationship with her best friend, Linda Martin. She moves in with them and helps them raise their son.
  • "BlueBallz" reveals that Chloe dated a DJ named Jed once. Although it didn't work out, the two are amiable upon being reunited, and Jed is revealed to have named a charity he founded after his Affectionate Nickname for her.
• MacGyver seems to have a new never-before seen ex-girlfriend pop up every other episode, and nearly all of them regard him as a good friend and quintessentially Nice Guy.
• In Marlon, Ashley and Marlon are divorced after sixteen years of marriage and they try to remain friends only for the sake of their two kids. However, it is easier said than done, due to their different personalities, Marlon's wild, reckless behavior tends to clash with Ashley's need of order and peace, not to mention the occasional jealousy when the other starts dating, different parenting styles, and the fear of potentially falling for one another again, all of which could ruin their goal of having a "cool divorce". A lot of the episodes try to focus on them trying to make this "friendship" workout and to have them not go back to the same dysfunctional cycle that ended their marriage in the first place.
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Midge and Joel are firmly settled into this place in season 2. Played With in that they're technically still married but they haven't finalized the divorce, since Joel seems optimistic about the possibility of getting back together with her once he's cleaned up his act. When they do get the divorce finalized in season 3, the judge is reluctant to grant the divorce because they seem too amicable, prompting Joel to make up a story about sleeping around with other women (with Susie helping him out by claiming to be one of these paramours).
• In Men of a Certain Age, Joe and his ex-wife divorced before the events of the first season. As of the second season, they appear to be getting romantically involved with each other again or at least exploring the possibility. At the very least, they are friendly and have shown up to their kids' school events together.
• Miami Vice: Crockett is still on good terms with his ex-wife Caroline, visiting her and their son regularly until she moves away in the first season.
• Jane and Colin Parker from Microsoap. Their divorce is covered in the first episode but they remain on good terms with one another for their children's sake. When Jane's new beau Roger comes into the picture, Colin is initially jealous but once he gets over that and starts dating other women, he ends up on good terms with him as well.
• Midsomer Murders: In "Beyond the Grave", Alan Bradford and Sandra Mackillop were earlier in a relationship and in the episode they are friendly to each other and working together. Probably helps that Alan never was attracted to Sandra, since he's gay.
• In Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the Pink Ranger Kimberly's parents are divorced but start off knee-deep in this trope - their one appearance involved the mother showing up with her new flame in a meet-the-parents affair at Angel Grove High. The real Aesop though is that the divorce hasn't affected their relationship with their child rather than each other.
• In the Monk episode "Mr. Monk and the TV Star", it appears that crime show star Brad Terry and his murdered ex-wife Susan Malloy were this. But, as it turns out, Brad's show Crime Lab SF is about to go into syndication and since he was still married to Susan when the show first began airing, she's entitled by California law to half of his earnings from the reruns. Since Brad doesn't like that part of the agreement, he stabs her while she's doing her yoga workout and makes it seem like she was stabbed by a deranged fan while he was outside talking to paparazzi.
• Earl and Joy from My Name Is Earl. Their relationship was a complicated one from the beginning, where Joy got him drunk enough to get a Vegas marriage when she was 6 months pregnant. Then she cheated on him with Darnell and Earl ended up raising two kids that weren't his. She divorced him when he was laid up in traction from getting hit by a car and eventually married Darnell. Despite all of this and a very rocky start of their post-marriage life due to Earl's lotto money, they became pretty close friends and have a small celebration on their anniversary. Earl often spends time with the family and Joy's kids even refer to him as "Old Daddy." This became even more complicated in the last episode when they discover that Earl actually was the father of Joy's first son (due to mistaken identity and Earl being drunk), and Darnell wasn't the father of the second.
• Never Have I Ever: Paxton and Devi's dynamic in season 4 — though they briefly make out, they mutually consider it closure. They further build on their already friendly relationship and end the show dating other people.
• In NYPD Blue, John Kelly and Laura Michael continue to have a good relationship even after their divorce. In a Cracked Magazine, there's a NYPD Blue spoof where they would even lampshade on the fact that these two have a better chemistry with each other seperated than married.
• The New Adventures of Old Christine: Old Christine and her ex-husband Richard are the epitome of the Amicably Divorced, tossing deprecatory puns back and forth between them while helping each other sort through their problems. In fact, they both count as being among each other's best friends. This caused New Christine to call off her and Richard's wedding, as she was upset that the two were spending so much time together, even at the wedding. Interestingly, Julia Louis-Dreyfus who plays Old Christine, also played Elaine on Seinfeld.
• In New Tricks, Gerry Standing is on very good terms with three ex-wives, to the point that he occasionally hooks up with them every so often. At the very least, they all seem very sociable and friendly in general, since the pilot has a scene where he has dinner with them and the four daughters they produced between them.
• NUMB3RS: Don Eppes and Liz Warner. Things are awkward for them for a couple of episodes after they break up, and then everything's fine. Liz even offers advice to Robin when she's having a fight with Don.
• In Once and Again, Although Karen is thrown when she finds out Eli has gotten together with Lily, eventually, they become good friends. It takes a while longer for Lily to feel the same way about Jake, though they eventually get there.
• In The Originals, Klaus and Hayley are this. They had a one-night stand that produced a daughter. Klaus is happy being a Shipper on Deck for Hayley and his brother Elijah.
• The Other Two: Brooke and Lance dated for many years but broke up before the series begins. Lance remains a supportive friend to her, however.
• The Orville: The series begins on a Cold Open where Ed Mercer walks in on his wife Kelly Grayson cheating on him. Fast forward one year (and one bitter divorce), and Ed's career is on the ropes due to drinking on the job and general insubordination when he receives word that he is receiving a command. Turns out, Kelly recommended him for the position, and she's going to be his XO. After a bit of arguing over it, they seem to be able to put aside their previous marriage for the job. Later on in the season, the same guy Kelly had cheated with shows up, and it turns out his entire species is Extreme Omnisexual capable of Instant Seduction through special pheromones... and subsequently ends up hooking up with Ed. After that particular episode, the two were able to reach an understanding, and while they didn't hook back up, they were able to work well together.
• The Outer Limits (1995): In "Tribunal", Aaron Zgierski and his ex-wife Gwen Sawyer are good friends. Gwen, who is an assistant district attorney, is helping Aaron with his investigation of Robert Greene, whom he correctly believes to be Nazi war criminal SS-Obersturmführer Karl Rademacher who killed his father Leon's first wife Miriam.
• In Our Flag Means Death, Mary and Stede end up getting along well enough given all that's happened between them, and they end up being supportive of each other's new relationships.
• In Jim Henson's unsold pilot Puppetman, Gary gets along well with his unseen ex-wife.
• The Ranch: Beau and Maggie have been separated for many years, but never got around to signing divorce papers. Beau lives on the titular ranch, while Maggie lives in a trailer near the bar she owns.
• The Real O'Neals gives a more realistic example in the form of Pat and Eileen, it is extremely awkward as they navigate towards it due to Eileen's clear discomfort with the whole idea of divorce because of her devout Catholicism.
• Emma and Leo from Red Band Society. Leo broke it off because he was afraid he was about to die of cancer; meanwhile, Emma believes he was afraid he'd be stuck with her if he survived. To get around their issues, they resort to a lot of snark.
• Fred and Mary Andrews on Riverdale are still close enough that Fred mentions in a phone call with Archie that the two are having dinner with one another, even despite the two officially discussing finalizing their divorce after being legally separated for months, and Fred even uses the word amicable when describing his relationship with Mary to Hermione. Their bond remains so close, that when Fred dies, coinciding with the real life death of Luke Perry, Mary is treated like his Widow and not his Ex-Wife.
• Morpheus and Calliope in The Sandman (2022) clearly had a messy breakup after the death of their son Orpheus in the past and both of them recognize that they said and did regrettable things to each other during that time. But in the present, when they met again, they are past this and are grateful to see each other, sharing concern and empathy over how they were imprisoned and abused by humans for decades. When Calliope expressed an openness to rekindle their relationship, Morpheus gently pointed out it would be best if they gave it more time due to their recent traumas.
• The Jacksons on The Sarah Jane Adventures. Remarkably so considering Chrissie left Alan for her Judo instructor.
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King: In the 3rd and 4th seasons, Amanda and her ex Joe get along well. His absence the first two seasons is explained away because he was overseas working for an American Government Relieve agency. He is the only one in Amanda's "normal" life that knows about her being a spy and her relationship with Lee. Joe found out when his boss framed him for stealing from the relief agency and killing the Prime Minister of a fictional country. When Lee and Amanda were close to proving Joe's boss was the actual guilty party, he went after Jamie and Phillip. Lee saves the boys and their Dad.
• Scenes from a Marriage (2021): While Jonathan and Mira try to be friendly after they separate, and for the most part are able to be cordial with each other, nearly all of their conversations end up delving into arguments that only bring out the worst in themselves. In the finale, they're shown to get along very well, though both of them are forced to come to the realization that they will never love anyone else as much as they love each other.
• Schitt's Creek:
  • David and Stevie have a brief fling in Season 1, but they get through the hurt and become best friends. He's pansexual, but she is his Last Het Romance as he later falls in love with and gets serious with Patrick.
  • Alexis is able to work with her ex Ted and they get along well, although after a couple of seasons they get back together.
  • Alexis stays friends with and has genuine affection for Mutt after their breakup.
• Scrubs:
  • Dr. Cox and Jordan are divorced from the beginning of the series, but still obviously in love. They constantly snipe at each other, but that's what affection looks like for both of them. It's an atypical example, because they ultimately get back together, live together, and have a child together, but never consider getting remarried. In fact, when they discover that their divorce was never finalized, they both feel so suffocated by the concept that they end up divorcing to save their relationship. They stay together but are both much happier with the understanding that they don't have to be. For sheer comedy value, they go through a divorce process that has all the trappings of a traditional marriage (including a bended knee proposal).
    Ted: And so, by the power vested in me by the American Bar Association, I pronounce you ex-husband and ex-wife. You may now do whatever the hell you want!
    Jordan: I've never been this happy.
    Cox: Me neither. *Big Damn Kiss*
    Carla: *to their son* You have no chance of being normal.
  • J.D. and Elliot try to be this, since their attempts at a relationship always failed horribly. Season 4 establishes that they no longer have romantic or sexual feelings for one another. In season 5's "My Day at the Races", they realized that their friendship was superficial and they weren't as close as they had been before their last breakup, but this is fixed by the end of the season and they stay that way until season 8 when they start having romantic feelings again.
  • J.D. and Kim become this from season 7 onwards. J.D. didn't care enough for her to make a long distance relationship with her work, so they broke up when she told him that she miscarried their child. When they re-met, J.D. discovered that she's still very pregnant and they try to hit it off again. The problem is that the trust that Kim broke was too irreparable for J.D. to develop any romantic feelings for her, so he breaks up with her again while she is going into labor. They decide to raise their son as ex-lovers, and at the finale of season 8, J.D. moves closer to Kim and his son Sam in order to be more involved in his son's life. Each parent also has got a new lover, meaning that Sam is essentially raised by four parents.
• In the backstory of SeaquestDSV, it's revealed that Katie Hitchcock and Ben Krieg married right out of the Academy, then divorced a year later due to incompatible personalities. They wind up assigned to the same ship, but Katie's now Ben's superior officer. Their relationship is best described as friendly/wary (within the bounds of military protocol), but various episodes have shown that either will go out of their way to help/protect the other.
• George and Anne from The Secret Life of the American Teenager. They broke up when George cheated on her, got back together, then broke up again. Yet they're still friends, frequently chat, and have no issue with the shared custody of their three children.
  • George and his first wife Kathleen are also on good terms, both agreeing that they were simply too young and immature when they got married.
• Seinfeld:
  • Jerry and Elaine were, before the series starts, in a long-term relationship. They get back together after a round of casual sex in one episode of the series but quickly go back to being strictly friends.
  • In one episode George dates a woman who still lives with her ex.
  • "The Bizarro Jerry" riffs on the Jerry and Elaine relationship by having Elaine befriend another ex-boyfriend who is the antithesis of Jerry in every way (in other words, he's a good friend), creating a completely platonic Love Triangle.
• Vasiliy and Olga in Servant of the People remained close friends after their divorce.
• Sesame Street: Maria and David dated for several years, then remained friends after she fell in love with and married Luis. Sadly, David was Put on a Bus just a year later, and his actor Northern Calloway died soon afterward.
• Sex/Life: Billie and Cooper evolve into being this by the end of Season 2. They make peace with each other, respecting the time both had together and becoming friendly co-parents of their kids.
• Shes Gotta Have It: Nola and Opal have a rather nasty break up, but are friendly again later.
• John & Laurie Cooper of Southland. His coming out as gay was a major factor in their divorce, but they clearly still love/care for each other. Laurie risked her job and career as a nurse for a long time to provide John under the table pain killers for his bad back.
• Stargate Atlantis: Colonel Sheppard and his ex-wife Nancy seem to get along well enough to understand how much strain their respective jobs had put on their relationship, and she's able to use her position at Homeland Security to pass along some information to him when he's back on Earth to track down a Replicator.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation:
  • Will Riker and Deanna Troi are this. They are implied to have drifted apart before the show started (primarily because Riker decided to prioritize his career in Starfleet) but remain very close friends throughout the run of the series. They do get back together in the movies, though, and eventually marry, with their relationship continuting into the Star Trek Novel 'Verse and Star Trek: Picard.
  • In "All Good Things...", Jean-Luc Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher are shown to be this in the possible future. She even keeps his last name, leading to a moment where an ensign says, "Captain Picard?", and both she and Picard respond, "Yes?"
• Star Trek: Picard: Played With during season 3. Crusher and Picard had a lot of Unresolved Sexual Tension during TNG, but they ultimately decided not to act on it. Nevertheless, she's at least willing to give him a call for help, as the trailer for Season 3 reveals she sent a distress signal specifically to him for help. However, it's later revealed she cut herself off from all of her old crewmates, but she still calls Picard because he's the only one she can trust.
• In The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Zack and Cody's divorced parents, Carrie and Kurt, are on good terms. They only really fight when Carrie calls Kurt out for his overly slack approach to parenting. In one episode, Kurt inadvertently meets Carrie’s new boyfriend who she looks set to marry, and they hit it off and Kurt even happily endorses him as his ex-wife’s potential new husband, and gently helps Cody cope with it (though Carrie turns down the proposal).
• Subverted in Supergirl (2015). Mon-El and Kara Danvers were forcibly separated when she had to send him into space to save his life. When they meet again, Mon-El has spent seven years in the future and moved on. He still wants to be Kara's friend and Kara tries, but she just can't.
  Kara: (to Mon-El) This is worse than the worst thing I could possibly imagine. That's you looking at me with no love in your eyes. So please just... Please... (walks away in tears)
• Alex and his ex-wife Phyllis Bornstein-Consuelos from Taxi had a pretty good relationship as shown whenever the latter appeared. It helped that they both hadn't seen each other for eighteen years. They even kissed when Phyllis came over to visit Alex for Christmas.
  • Lampshaded by Louie's ex-girlfriend Zena, who wanted to invite Lou to her wedding. Though Louie was too depressed to go, he decided to set things right by crashing into Zena's honeymoon cruise.
• That's So Raven: Eddie’s parents get along well enough but still have issues from their divorce. Towards the end of the series when an episode makes it clear how much their separation has had a negative effect on Eddie, the two agree that they will never let their differences stop them from helping celebrate Eddie’s birthday.
• In Transparent, Maura and Shelly are on quite good terms with each other. Later in the season, this trope also applies to Sarah and Len.
• By the finale of Turner & Hooch (2021), "Bite Club," Laura and Grady seem to be on good terms, thanks to Grady helping to crack the dog-fighting case and save Scott Turner Jr. Grady tells her that he'll always be there for her, divorce or no divorce.
• Elena and Matt on The Vampire Diaries. They are still friends who look out for each other after they broke up.
• Viva Variety (spin-off of The Slate) is hosted by Mr. Laupin and the Former Mrs. Laupin. They even do a romantic musical number together called "My Divorce."
• The Walking Dead
  • Harshly defied with Rosita and Abraham, who split up because the latter is now interested in Sasha and claims he only got with Rosita because he felt like she was the "last woman on earth". Sasha does little to help the situation either, and though Rosita does still look out for Abraham and vice versa in the field, she’s unable to reconcile with him before he’s murdered by Negan.
  • Carol left Tobin with a "Dear John" Letter when she left Alexandria, but when they reconnect a few weeks later during the Savior War, they manage to make peace and finally give the latter some closure.
  • Subverted with Rosita and Siddiq, as the two only had a fling and thus the latter doesn’t mind when Rosita gets into a relationship with Gabriel. He even agrees to help the pair co-parent the girl that Rosita gives birth to, who is his child. Rosita and Gabriel become this themselves when they break up offscreen in Season 11, still perfectly civil and caring towards each other, and willing to work together to raise Coco especially since Siddiq is long dead by this point.
  • By Season 11, Carol and Ezekiel finally settle into this. The pair have moved past the tragedies that led to their marriage falling apart and have overcome their personal battles with depression, and are able to form a healthier, more natural friendship. Ezekiel still flirts with Carol, still interested in rekindling things, but Carol says it’s not going to happen, and even then she’s not too stern about saying it.
  • Magna and Yumiko remain friends after splitting up in Season 10, but rekindle their relationship by the end of the series.
• Toby Ziegler and Andrea Wyatt on The West Wing, who were so, uh, "amicable" he wound up impregnating her while they were divorced, of course, this may have been left over of part of the couple's previous fertility treatments while they were married. It's possible that Andy was impregnated by previously fertilized and stored ova, the actual means of how Andy got pregnant are not discussed or revealed, so it's unknown exactly what happened, but either way, they'd have to be pretty amicable to even agree to it in the first place.
• Will & Grace, who are extremely close Platonic Life-Partners, briefly dated in college. She was his Last Het Romance.
• Lowell of Wings divorced his wife Bunny after a long separation, only to have the split end up completely reinvigorating their sex life. They would end up having to work at staying apart.
• The Wire: McNulty and Elena zig-zag this trope throughout the series. They can't stand each other at first (he even calls her a "cunt" at one point, and in the second season, when he tries to clean up his act and get back together with her, she refuses. However, by season 4, when McNulty has (seemingly) cleaned up his act for good, he and Elena have become this, and in season 5, when McNulty falls Off the Wagon, Elena pleads with him to get his act together.
• 7 Yüz:
  • In "Prosedür", the relationship between ex-lovers Rıdvan and Banu creates the story's conflict. Rıdvan still considers her one of his closest friends after they break up; however, Banu's lingering feelings for him complicate the situation considerably and results in frustration on both sides.
  • Metin of "Biyologik Saat" maintains friendly ties with two of his exes. Nil, who moved to Canada and married a Russian woman named Olga, remains one of Metin's closest friends, and the two seem to Skype on a daily basis. Duygu also demonstrates a friendly relationship with Metin, as she greets him with a hug after seeing him the first time in years. She has since been Happily Married with two children, which makes Metin realize he wants a family of his own; he jokingly tells her to call him if she ever gets a divorce.

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